John A. Magliacane, KD2BD

Summary

• Electronics Engineer with over 21 years experience in terrestrial and satellite-based RF communication systems.
• Educator with over 21 years experience in electronics technology and electrical engineering education at the college level, including three years experience as a fully-qualified Cisco Certified Networking Academy Instructor.
• Holder of a Commercial FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License, and an Advanced Class Amateur Radio Operator's License (KD2BD).
• Linux system administrator with over a decade of experience in Linux installation, administration, and practical application.
• Software engineer with nine years experience as a GNU/GPL Open Source software developer (Unix/Linux, C, C++).
• Technical writer with numerous publications in electronics, communications, and computing periodicals for a decade and a half.
• Formal education that includes degrees in electronics engineering technology, computer science, and physics/mathematics.

Electronics Engineering

Details of some of my hardware designs can be found on-line:

• The KD2BD Pacsat Modem
• The KD2BD 9600 Baud Modem
• The KD2BD Video Operated Relay
• The KD2BD ATV AM Video Modulator
• The Design of the Brookdale ATV Repeater System Exciter

An overview of the instrumentation I have developed for making precise, long distance frequency measurements and ionospheric Doppler shift studies may be found here.

Software Development

This link provides general information on some of my most popular software products, including:

• SPLAT!: An RF path-loss and terrain analysis application for the Linux/Unix operating system.
• PREDICT: A multi-platform satellite tracking and orbital prediction program.
• PacsatTools: A collection of Linux-based utilities for use in "Pacsat" digital satellite communication systems.
• Portable PREDICT Plus!: An application specific Linux distribution that includes a small suite of satellite communication applications (including PREDICT, MoonTracker, PacsatTools, Fodtrack, PB/PG, Minicom, and AX.25 libraries and utilities) that can be booted from a pair of floppy disks.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has been using some of my software in developing communications link and fade margin policies for future lunar surface operations and exploration, details of which are available here.

Other adopters of my software include Cornell University, NASA/Goddard Spaceflight Center, NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, The U.S. Naval Academy, Stanford University, and the European Space Agency.

Publications

In addition to creating and authoring SpaceNews for more than 13 years, I have had a host of technical articles published in a variety of books and periodicals, including:

• QEX
• Radio!
• CQ VHF
• Linux Journal
• OSCAR News
• Satellite Times
• Monitoring Times
• The AMSAT Journal
• The Uniden Cookbook
• Amateur Television Quarterly
• The ARRL Satellite Anthology, Fourth and Fifth Editions
• Packet: Speed, More Speed and Applications, First Edition

Amateur Radio Service

This link provides information regarding some of the more interesting accomplishments I have made for over a quarter century as an Advanced Class Amateur Radio Operator, including:

• Numerous publications, book contributions, and radio interviews
• Service to the local community through membership and active participation in the Skywarn program
• The design of high-performance BPSK and FSK modems for use in digital store-and-forward "Pacsat" satellite communication systems
• The engineering and construction of the Amateur Television (ATV) Repeater System at Brookdale Community College
• Reception of slow-scan television (SSTV) images from the Space Shuttle Challenger, the space station Mir, and the International Space Station
• Successful two-way radio contacts with astronauts living in space
• More than a decade and a half of service as advisor to the Brookdale Amateur Radio Club (BARC)
• Software development (also see link above)
• Noteworthy participation in Frequency Measuring Tests
• Some related audio clips

Current Solar Activity

Solar X-rays: Geomagnetic Field:

Solar activity affects the Earth's ionosphere and geomagnetic field. In turn, these affect the propagation of radio waves around the planet.

Additional solar activity information is available at n3kl.org

News and Information Links

Are you tired of being 'protected' from reality by profit-driven, corporate-owned media?

• http://www.fair.org/: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
• http://factcheck.org/: FactCheck.org
• http://mediamatters.org/: Media Matters for America
• http://www.snopes.com/: Urban Legends Reference Pages
• http://www.accuracy.org/: Institute for Public Accuracy
• http://www.rawstory.com/: The Raw Story
• http://www.wanttoknow.info/: Want To Know
• http://www.publicintegrity.org/: The Center for Public Integrity
• http://cooperativeresearch.org/: The Complete 9/11 Timeline
• http://www.thememoryhole.org/: The Memory Hole
• http://www.consortiumnews.com/: Consortium News
• http://www.americanprogress.org/: Center for American Progress
• http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/: Information Clearing House

The only thing worse than not being fully informed is believing that you are.

Linux!

I've been a Linux user and advocate since 1994, and in recent years have become a successful Linux software developer. Drop by my Linux web page to discover some of the reasons why I don't "do" Windows. It describes what has now become the fastest growing computer operating system on the planet, the reasons behind its phenomenal growth, and why it is creating the next major revolution in the computing industry.

Contact Information

Interested parties may contact me electronically at: kd2bd <AT> amsat <DOT> org.

This site is a winner of the Philadelphia Web Design International Multi Media Design Excellence Award.

This site is best viewed with any browser, and refrains from willfully wasting your computer's resources.

John A. Magliacane Amateur Radio Operator: KD2BD Open Source Software Developer Internet Advocate Since 1987 Linux Advocate Since 1994